


Tales from the Caribbean Sea - A collection of one shots

by blacklipstick



Category: Pirates of the Caribbean (Movies)
Genre: Angst, At Worlds End, Black Pearl - Freeform, Canonical Character Death, Curse of the Black Pearl, Curses, Dead Mans Chest - Freeform, Drama, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Love, Multi, Pirates, The Navy - Freeform, Tortuga, messed up Norrington, ships, the sea
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-14
Updated: 2018-10-14
Packaged: 2019-08-02 03:08:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16297061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blacklipstick/pseuds/blacklipstick
Summary: If you look closely, the sea has so many stories to tell.A collection of short stories and drabbles I wrote about Pirates of the Caribbean. The ships may vary but are usually pretty light.





	1. Gone or The Wig (Elizabeth/James - not romantic)

**Author's Note:**

> Hello fellow Pirates fan! I'm happy you decided to take a look at my works. This is basically a place to dump my one shots I write in a desperate attempt to get over writers block haha. Beware that none of these are beta read and english isn't my first language but I hope I was able to fix most of the mistakes.  
> Anyway this is the first story and why don't we get going?
> 
> Characters: James Norrington, Elisabeth Swann  
> Pairing: None  
> Summary: Elizabeth finds James in Tortuga.

Tortuga, around 1740 probably. 

"It's all gone! One moment you're chasing the oh so mighty Captain Jack Sparrow and then, suddenly, everything I did was for nothing!" he says, still sitting in the dirt because he had stopped caring too long ago. 

And she doesn't know what to do, she doesn't know what to say. Because he isn't particularly one of her best friends, she likes him, truly and she hadn't lied when calling him a fine man back then. But they had never even remotely been close enough for her to know what she could to help him now. "Calm down please. It's okay." 

He stares at her for a time which seemed way too long but hardly was a minute long and shook his head. "It's not. Lost it all 'cause of the damn pirate! Look at me, just another disgusting drunk, jus' look!" Then he grabs his old, muddy wig and throws it away angrily. 

"Are you okay? Come on let's-" 

He cuts her off. "Do I bloody look okay to you?!" She steps back but suddenly the angry atmosphere is gone. "Sorry, I shouldn't... I'm a bit sad and had a lil too much is all."

She smiles weakly, remembering who he once was. A truly good man, maybe still is somewhere under all the dirt. But she has a reason to be here in Tortuga and that reason is not him. That reason is her one true love, William, alone. She has to take matters into her own hands but she can't just leave James there, sitting in the pigsty. Maybe she should, maybe she should just go and forget about him? But she can't. 

"Come on. You... you signed up for Jack's crew remember? We have to get going. To the docks."

"Oh please." He remarks in a voice dripping with sarcasm.

It's weird. Seeing him like this but especially without the wig, she hadn't seen him without that horrendously ugly thing before. Even if he is completely muddy, it does look better indeed and she finds herself to chuckle. "Sorry it's just, I've never seen you without that horrible wig very often."

"You think it's funny?" He smiles bitterly and tries to stand up but stumbles and falls down again. 

"Wait, let me help you." Elizabeth reaches out for his hand, James stares at it for longer than he should have but then accepts the offer. He's still much taller than her and keeping him from falling proves to be a real difficulty. He stinks of rum and dirt, it's not very pleasant but she's determined to help him. Who knows what would happen if she doesn't? 

Before they go, Elizabeth picks up the wig again.  
_It's the only thing left of the Commodore._


	2. Back (Elisabeth/Will)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You've made it to the second short, yay!
> 
> Characters: Elizabeth Swann, James Norrington (mentioned), Henry Turner (mentioned), Will Turner (mentioned)  
> Pairing: Elizabeth Swann/Will Turner  
> Summary: Elizabeth is a fighter and she knows it. She reflects on her life and the things she went through.

Elizabeth Swann was many things. A lover. A daughter. A mother. A fighter. A pirate and a king. And she wasn't willing to let her husband go just like that. But all these things, all these things she was so proud of, couldn't help her now. She couldn't love a curse away. She couldn't ask her father for advice anymore. She couldn't find fulfillment in being a mother without her counterpart. She couldn't fight off the curse. Plundering and fighting couldn't help her and neither could her status as king. She couldn't command the curse to go away, she couldn't command her to call it off.

Elizabeth had lost so many things in her life and she didn't even dare to think about losing another person she loved so dearly. She searched for a way to free him day and night. Sleep wasn't a priority anymore, it impacted the way she cared for Henry and it pained her to see that she couldn't be that good mother she wished to be anymore. Ten years were awfully, awfully long but every time she looked at Henry it reminded her of her love. Looking at him became more painful the older he got. Still, she tried. Tried to find a way to save him and at the same time care for her son but how was she supposed to deal with all of this? 

Elizabeth fought through it like the strong woman she wanted to be. She had dealt with loss before but at least then she knew that they were at peace now. Not cursed for all eternity. She remembered the exact moment when she realised her father had died. Seeing him pass by in that boat, not able to do anything was one of the worst things she'd ever experienced. Yes, he was never happy with the life she chose but he loved her. Only ever wanted the best for her. But she couldn't protect the man who had protected her all her life. She dealt with it, kept fighting. 

The night on the Dutchman was a thing she remembered much too well too. There was a time where she didn't like James, a time where she thought he was boring. There was a time where she believed he had taken part in the death of her father but looking back, she had no idea how she could even dare to believe this. James wasn't a traitor, what James really was, was one of the best friends she ever had. He was a good man, deserved better but gave his life for her of all people. She felt guilty, still. 

But even then she kept fighting, lead the fleet into a fight she wasn't sure they could win because she was their king and it was her duty to lead them. Pushing her feelings aside once again because she couldn't let anyone see how she was hurting. No, Elizabeth Swann was a strong woman, a true fighter. But at this point she couldn't fight anymore. The days turned into weeks, turned into years. 

When Henry grew up to be this wonderful young man, she was proud of him and herself aswell. But when he told her about his plans, she tried everything to keep him from going after his father. She had lost hope and she didn't want him to experience this kind of disappointment. Of course, a boy having parents like this, didn't ask any further. He just left, rebelled and tried everything in his power to bring his father back. 

The days in which she was uncertain about his well-being were absolutely horrible. If she lost another person she loved, there was no way she could ever recover. 

But Henry made it, despite everything working against him. Henry broke the curse and she was so happy, so happy she barely could hold herself back. She loved her husband so truly and dearly, it felt unreal to hold him in her arms again. It's been so long and so hard but it was over finally. 

She finally had her William back.


	3. Never trust a Pirate (Jack/James hinted)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahoy and welcome back! I hope you enjoy this very very short drabble of mine.
> 
> Characters: James Norrington, Jack Sparrow (mentioned), Elizabeth Swann (mentioned), Will Turner (mentioned)  
> Pairing: very very very light/hinted James/Jack  
> Summary: James' grandmother is a smart woman, she tells him not to trust a pirate.

James had very vivid memories of his grandmother telling his sister not to fall in love with a pirate, warning her of the consequences and how horrible they were. She told her to not trust them under no circumstances because she, a woman who had seen too much, knew what she was talking about. Sometimes he suspected that his grandmother had fallen for a man of the sea herself, as she seemed very unhappily married all her life. Only when his grandfather died, she was living again. But it wasn't his place to judge her. He never even thought that he would find himself in this position rather than his sister who had married good man about a year ago. 

James was a honorable man who took pride in what he did for a living, well that was of course only the case till he met the famous Captain Jack Sparrow. Everything James had wanted was a happy life with a woman he loved by his side, he had been so close up to that one day in Port Royal where Elizabeth had tasted freedom for the first time. And freedom was undeniably better than marriage with a Navy officer like himself. 

She didn't love him but he didn't love her either. He loved the idea of her. He loved the idea of a young woman who wanted to spend her life with him, he loved the idea of having a family, of settling down eventually and of having kids who would walk in his footsteps. He loved the idea of growing old with a family by his side. But it wasn't Elizabeth Swann who he truly loved. There was a time where he was undoubtedly sure he loved her but truth be told, he hadn't even known what true love was then. Maybe he could have lived happily with her but somehow he doubted this by now. 

No, he didn't love her but he had trusted her more than once. He even trusted William. Yes, even after their venture into freedom and even after they had helped Jack Sparrow. Jack Sparrow who had ruined him, Jack Sparrow who was the absolute death of him.


	4. Love, kind of (friendship Elizabeth/James)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey warning guys, this is about James' death so if you don't want to read that, beware.
> 
> Characters: Elizabeth Swann, James Norrington  
> Pairing: Elizabeth/James kind of but kind of not, you'll understand once you read  
> Summary: James dies and Elizabeth can't take it.

Stuck up and boring, that's what she believed he was for a long time. When she was younger, merely the thought of having to marry him, like her father had intended, felt horrible but as the years went by, she noticed it wasn't for him as a person. It was because marrying a navyman would restrict her freedom greatly. She didn't love him, not as much as she loved Will. No, it was something entirely different. 

And she shouldn't care about him, she shouldn't waste so many thoughts on him because she was happily in love. But when the news of the hurricane reached Port Royal, she was worried. Very much so actually, but soon enough the worry disappeared as the stress of preparing her wedding took over. She would have loved him to be at her wedding and she was sure he would have come despite the pain it caused him inside. But the wedding never happened anyway. 

When she reached Tortuga, she honestly had forgotten about him for a while. He was a friend but at this moment her mind was busy with so many other things. That's why it hit her harder than expected. She couldn't believe her eyes at first, this couldn't be him. He had turned into a drunken fool. She had never seen him drunk before, only slightly tipsy at a party she had been forced to attend. But this, this was so different and she didn't like to look at him in this state. And she was angry, angry at him for giving up so easily, angry at him for not caring anymore. When she knocked that bottle over his head, she felt some kind of relief, the anger was gone but this bad feeling in the pit of her stomach was left. 

She didn't love him, he was one of her dearest friends. He was a good man and he didn't deserve this. 

_They threw him into the pigsty._

Only then her mind finally grasped what had happened. He was covered in mud by then and smelled of rum. The whole thing was an unreal experience, he wasn't himself anymore and even just simply interacting with him was painful. 

The time went by fast, the adventure had long gone by when they met again. How she could have ever believed that he knew about her father's death was a mystery to her. She didn't love him but she cared too much. And she forgave him easily, at least that's what she told herself while actually he should be the one forgiving her. She'd done many things to hurt him and still he stood by her side, still she helped her flee from the Dutchman.

And when he kissed her once and for all, she noticed. She didn't love him in a romantic way, she didn't love him like she loved Will. But she loved him, in one of the purest ways. And even if she could never give him what he wished for, in this short moment, she believed that they could flee together. She believed that he could be happy. Finally. 

But then he died. He gave his life for her, a woman who had broken his heart multiple times. 

James Norrington was dead and Elizabeth Swann was crying when she entered the ship again.


	5. Need for Freedom (Jack/the sea? idk?)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter for now but I'll keep them coming in the future!
> 
> Characters: Jack Sparrow, the Crew  
> Pairing: None really  
> Summary: There is only one woman Jack Sparrow could ever love.

Many sailors had someone to return to, many sailors had to worry about ever coming back to something similar called home. Or not, they were pirates after all, only some of them really cared about these women waiting there on land. And well of course there were women like Elizabeth, women who didn't wait but took matters into her own hands. 

Luckily enough he didn't have anyone to return to. There was no woman to look at the horizon longingly in the hopes of her love returning. And he was quite glad about that because even if you couldn't tell at first glance, or even second or third glance, he did indeed care about some people. 

He looked at the water where the slowly setting sun was reflected in her big warm glory. Beneath his feet, he could feel the ship gently rocking and he felt the cool breeze of the ocean and smelled the salt. Around him, the crew was working even though some stood together chatting away. There wasn't much wind and therefore not a lof of work after all. His thoughts went back to the ocean under them. He heard the waves gently carrying his ship. 

Jack Sparrow was not like other pirates, he knew that as much as everyone else knew. But the crew seemed to accept that just fine and even if some rumors had arisen sometimes, Jack made sure every word about him out there was either true or made him look better. And most of the time the storys made him look better. Of course there were some lies he let grow for strategical reasons or had even told himself. Jack made his way back to the helm and took the steering wheel back from Gibbs. His hand lay there like it was meant to be and he felt just right. 

Yeah she was his ship indeed. The gigantic beauty followed every small little command of his. And right in this moment he could practically feel the freedom in every fiber of his body. It was what he needed in life. They could go wherever they wanted, without any boundaries. He felt as if the world was theirs but he knew that wasn't the case. He ignored the navy and everyone else who wanted to kill them once and for all, these people were not important right now. 

The only thing that really mattered and of importance, was the ship, the sea and of course he himself. No, Captain Jack Sparrow didn't have a woman waiting and probably never would. The only woman he could ever love this much was almost always present in his life. She didn't have to wait, she came with him because she was all he needed. It was the Black Pearl or possibly even the sea herself. 

And he sailed on because it was what he was born to be. He sailed on because he wouldn't let the age of piracy and freedom come to an end. He sailed on because he wanted to show them all that he still had it. He sailed on because he couldn't stand to live on land, he didn't like land very much. It always took him a long time to get used to being on land everytime he did so. The ground was surprisingly stable, the smell of the sea faded away quickly and you couldn't feel the freedom anymore. No, Captain Jack Sparrow didn't like being on land at all. He had lived at sea for all of his life and if it were to be, he wanted to die at sea as well. 

Captain Jack Sparrow sailed on because he held onto this idea of freedom tightly.


End file.
